Float Legal PA

The role

This is an excellent opportunity to join Howard Kennedy LLP operating as a central Float Legal PA, providing flexible support based on business need, including covering absences, workload peaks and ad-hoc requirements across all our legal departments: Private Wealth, Real Estate, Corporate and Dispute Resolution.

The Float Legal PA will not be aligned to a single team and must be able to quickly integrate into different practice areas, building effective working relationships with fee earners and support teams.

We are seeking an experienced candidate who can exercise flexibility, effectively prioritise, use available resources, and communicate clearly, with strong organisational skills and a proactive approach.

Role responsibility

• Provide Float PA support cross multiple practice areas, covering planned and unplanned absences to ensure continuity of service.
• Quickly integrate into new teams and matters, independently managing priorities, workloads and handovers.
• Manage fee earner inboxes, prioritising correspondence, responding where appropriate and maintaining accurate filing in iManage.
• Liaise with fee earners to review priorities and manage workflow effectively.
• Support client onboarding including matter opening, KYC compliance, engagement letters, requests for monies on account and initial correspondence.
• Communicate professionally with clients and third parties by email and telephone, responding to queries and taking accurate messages.
• Coordinate file closures, resolving outstanding balances and ensuring compliance with firm procedures.
• Prepare, amend and proofread documents using BigHand, including copy typing, document comparison and track changes.
• Manage workflows with the Document Production Centre, ensuring deadlines are met.
• Upload, transfer and manage documents within iManage, data rooms and large file transfer systems, including use of Adobe Acrobat.
• Prepare and manage DocuSign envelopes.
• Conduct property and corporate searches using systems such as Land Registry, CourtChex, Search Acumen and TM Group.
• Manage fee earner diaries, coordinate meetings and arrange travel and accommodation.
• Organise meeting logistics, including room bookings, video conferencing, refreshments and materials.
• Prepare financial documentation, including proformas, CHAPS requests and related forms.
• Support billing, Elite 3E reporting, expense submissions and CRM data reconciliation.
• Investigate and assist with resolving residual balances on client and office accounts.
• Support business development activities, including client events, mailings and initiatives.
• Coordinate the collation, archiving and distribution of deeds.
• Provide PA and EA cover across departments and undertake ad hoc duties as required.
• Undertake ad‑hoc duties as reasonably required to support the wider team.

About you

Ideally you will be able to demonstrate:

• A flexible and adaptable approach, with the ability to support different teams and quickly develop knowledge across practice areas.
• Resilience and confidence working in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities.
• Strong typing skills (75+ wpm) with excellent accuracy and attention to detail.
• The ability to work independently with minimal supervision or handover.
• Ability to produce accurate, well‑presented documents with excellent attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent organisational and time‑management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities effectively.
• A proactive, solution-focused mindset, using initiative to resolve issues and support the team.
• Strong relationship‑building skills and a collaborative approach to working with others.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and legal systems such as Elite 3E, iManage, BigHand, DocuSign, TitanFile, Litera Compare, Chrome River and CRM platforms. Training will be provided.
• Experience using third-party platforms including Willbase, Land Registry, CourtChex Online, Search Acumen and TM Group is advantageous.

At Howard Kennedy we believe that everyone deserves the space to thrive. We’re committed to creating an inclusive recruitment experience that reflects the diversity of both our people and our clients.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities, and we’re committed to ensuring that our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and accessible to all.

We understand that every candidate’s needs are different If there’s anything we can do to make your application journey more comfortable— whether for interviews, assessments, or onboarding—please let us know. We’ll work with you to remove any barriers and ensure our recruitment process is comfortable for you. 

Contact our recruitment team at recruitment@howardkennedy.com to discuss any support you might need.

Agency Introductions

Please note that we are not accepting applications via agencies for this role at this time. Before sharing any named candidate CVs, please contact your recruitment representative. If any named CVs are sent from agencies without approval from our recruitment team, they will not be deemed valid introductions, and no agency fee will be paid.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• 25 days annual holiday
• Permanent Health Insurance
• Life Assurance
• Interest free Season Ticket Loan
• Private Healthcare
• Pension Scheme
• Staff Introductory Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme

About us

With almost 200 lawyers in one location, we ensure our clients have the right team to help them get from where they are to where they want to be. We advise major corporates and institutions as well as entrepreneurial, ambitious enterprises which are often privately or family owned, or private equity backed. As well as our significant business law capability, we are one of only a few London-based law firms with a large private wealth offering. Our clients find our straightforward approach a compelling alternative to larger, less personal firms.

Whether you are an ambitious and talented individual wanting to hit the ground running from day one, or an established professional looking for a new opportunity, Howard Kennedy is the firm where you can really make it happen.

We have earned a strong reputation for our exceptional and uniquely talented people who between them deliver outstanding results for clients. In a firm of our size, our strong team dynamic creates a thriving culture of creativity and entrepreneurialism. Howard Kennedy is a pragmatic and non-hierarchical environment where success is shared, and you are proactively encouraged to thrive at your own pace.

Our distinctive culture is built on fairness and respect. Guided by the firm’s values of talk straight, think smart and be yourself, everyone in the firm holds equal value, and everyone plays their role in supporting, encouraging and inspiring colleagues to do their best work.

At the same time, we recognise and reward individualism, celebrating the diversity of our people and supporting them to grow their practice and drive their own career advancement.

As well as client work, there is opportunity to broaden your horizons at the firm with fulfilling pro bono and charity projects. We have a regular social calendar full of wellbeing activities, charitable and social events too.